Slow-starting Thornwood Rolls In Opener

May 25, 1990|By Paul Sullivan.

It was the bottom of the fifth inning, and top-ranked Thornwood was staring at a most embarrassing defeat on its own diamond.

Winners of 21 straight going into their regional opener Thursday against Thornton Fractional North, the Thunderbirds had suddenly gone belly-up against left-hander Paul Adams, the ace pitcher of a 5-15 underdog. The T-Birds had managed only one run and five hits to that point, and trailed the lowly Meteors by two runs.

Was the upset of the year in the making?

Hardly. Thanks to Cliff Floyd, it was just a momentary lapse of reason in another typical T-Bird slaughter. Thornwood`s junior slugger saw to that by crashing a 375-foot, two-run homer run to give Thornwood the lead in the fifth, and added a two-run single in a seven-run sixth that gave Thornwood

(23-2) a 13-3 victory ended by the 10-run slaughter rule.

``When he gets stronger, he`s going to be tough,`` said Thornwood coach John Dunlop of Floyd.

Stronger? For the sake of opposing pitchers with another year or two of high school eligibility left, let`s hope not. Floyd`s prodigious home run, which landed in the adjoining football stadium, was his 13th of the year and only his third or fourth longest, according to fans on hand. Now, the time he smacked one over the football press box, they said, that was a homer.

Floyd declined to get involved in the debate over which ball traveled the farthest. ``I just hit `em and run,`` he said. ``I don`t like to talk about

`em.``

T.F. North pitcher Adams will be talking about this one for a while. The Meteors had given him the 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth, and the lefty seemed to be in complete control. But a leadoff walk to Sammy Antkiewicz and a double by John Dunlop Jr. put the tying runs on in a hurry.

Dave McNally followed with a sharp double to the left-field corner to tie the game, and Floyd walloped Adams` first pitch into never-never-land to put the T-Birds on top for keeps.

``We had a little talk in the dugout before the inning,`` said Floyd.

``The last couple of days, we were a little too anxious up there.``

Thornwood broke it open the following inning, when Floyd`s bases-loaded blooper to left scored two and preceded consecutive errors by T.F. North infielders.

Thornwood starter Craig Gronowski pitched five innings for his seventh win in eight decisions, and Ed Young pitched a hitless sixth in relief. The T- Birds go on to play Hillcrest, a 6-2 winner over Homewood-Flossmoor, in the H-F regional semifinal Saturday in Flossmoor, with Young getting the starting nod.